Chapter 88: Luo Ling’s Opportunity

Luo Ling affectionately held onto Ke Bei's arm, her slightly flushed cheeks radiant with a blissful smile.

"Ke Bei, how did you suddenly become so formidable? Be honest—did you find some treasure on the third floor?" Luo Ling, smiling, leaned her rosy lips close to Ke Bei’s ear and whispered.

A warm, slightly damp breath gently brushed his earlobe. Surrounded by Luo Ling’s faint, delicate fragrance, Ke Bei's body trembled unexpectedly, a strange heat stirring in his heart, and his face instantly flushed bright red.

"N-no, nothing. The third floor was much like the second—just a pitch-black stone pillar. I studied it for a while and gained a bit of insight, so my strength improved," Ke Bei replied, rubbing his nose. He tried to withdraw his arm from Luo Ling’s embrace, gently exerting some force, but Luo Ling clung too tightly. Instead of freeing himself, he accidentally brushed against the softness of Luo Ling’s chest. Luo Ling trembled, her cheeks blooming with a rosy blush. She rolled her sparkling black eyes and gave Ke Bei a sharp glance, but said nothing, her delicate hands still quietly holding onto his arm.

Ke Bei did not distrust Luo Ling, but the matter of claiming the Sky Awakening Tower was simply too monumental to disclose. It was a secret best buried in his heart until his power was sufficient; until then, he would never reveal it to anyone.

After all, the Sky Awakening Tower was a supreme artifact! Even the strongest humans at the pinnacle of the power hierarchy might find it impossible to resist its allure.

"Alright," Luo Ling replied softly, nodding as she looked up at Ke Bei's slightly flushed face. She smiled gently, then her gaze drifted to one of the seven black stone pillars. Since stepping onto the second floor and seeing the pillars, Luo Ling felt that one was different from the others. She couldn’t explain why—there was simply a faint sense of calling emanating from it.

When Ke Bei entered the third floor, Luo Ling had been waiting for him, forcibly suppressing her longing. Now that Ke Bei had returned, that inexplicable attraction grew stronger.

"I want to go and see that pillar," Luo Ling said softly, her eyes fixed on the leftmost pitch-black pillar, reluctantly releasing Ke Bei's arm.

"Go ahead," Ke Bei said with a smile, nodding to her. Now the master of the Sky Awakening Tower, he couldn’t yet control it, but he understood everything within it intimately.

Ke Bei knew exactly what lay inside the black pillar. Since Luo Ling felt a mysterious summons, it was her destiny—perhaps she would obtain the secret technique within.

There were seven secret techniques inside the pillars. As for their rank, Ke Bei hadn’t cultivated them and couldn’t say for certain, but given that the Sky Awakening Tower was a supreme artifact, he imagined they must be extraordinary.

Inside the pillar Luo Ling approached was a secret technique called "Frost Armor," which matched Luo Ling’s innate abilities well. Luo Ling was a Chosen, possessing remarkable talent. Yet in the Nine Rivers Talent Training Camp, the Azure Dragon List was filled with advanced transcendents, making her seem a bit weaker by comparison.

"Let’s see—perhaps Luo Ling truly has a chance to inherit the 'Frost Armor,'" Ke Bei thought, folding his arms across his chest, his face calm and smiling as he watched Luo Ling stand before the black pillar.

Before the people from the Ancient Tang Base arrived, Bai Yong and his companions had spent quite some time examining the black pillar. Though they knew it must be extraordinary, its mysteries remained opaque, leaving them no choice but to give up. Now, their curiosity about Ke Bei surpassed even their interest in the pillar.

A newcomer who had only recently entered the Nine Rivers Talent Training Camp, Ke Bei had not only ascended to the third floor of the Sky Awakening Tower but possessed astonishing strength. He had single-handedly confronted twenty-two advanced transcendent geniuses from the Ancient Tang Base. Such a feat was enough to make Ke Bei famous across all three major bases!

"Young man, what is your innate ability?" Bai Yong finally couldn’t contain his curiosity, hesitating for a moment before cautiously asking Ke Bei.

"Innate ability?" Ke Bei, who had been quietly watching Luo Ling, was taken aback by Bai Yong’s question. He was a genetic enhancer—how could he possibly possess an innate ability?

Typically, genetic enhancers cultivated diligently, continually refining their bodies to increase physical strength. When their bodies reached a threshold, quantity transformed into quality, triggering further gene enhancements. Genetic enhancers were born as first-level enhancers; as their strength grew, their genes could evolve to the second level. However, not every first-level enhancer could further strengthen their genes, so second-level enhancers were much rarer, and third-level ones rarer still. When a third-level enhancer reached the peak, their physical power and gene enhancement would reach their limits. If fortune smiled upon them and they broke through, their sea of consciousness would undergo a mysterious evolution, granting them an innate ability and elevating them to the transcendent realm.

But Ke Bei was not a genetic enhancer—no matter how much he increased his physical strength, he could not trigger gene enhancement. Thus, he could never become a transcendent, nor acquire an innate ability.

Bai Yong had just protected Luo Ling with his body, and Ke Bei felt obliged to answer. He frowned, pondering how best to phrase his reply.

"Well, my innate ability is to control a kind of invisible energy, which enhances speed, defense, and strength," Ke Bei said, after careful consideration. He simply described the features of the Nine Yang Divine Skill. Since nobody else in this world understood inner force, he could pass it off as his innate ability.

"Such an innate ability exists?" Bai Yong was stunned, silently lamenting that his horizons had expanded today.

Ke Bei smiled, quietly channeling the vast inner force of the Nine Yang Divine Skill. An invisible power wrapped itself around Bai Yong, who felt as if an unseen hand gently pushed him, sending a surge of force that made his body involuntarily step backward.

"This is my innate ability," Ke Bei explained, fearing Bai Yong might not believe him. After all, Bai Yong and his companions had protected Luo Ling, so Ke Bei allowed him to experience the power first-hand.

Just as Ke Bei demonstrated the Nine Yang Divine Skill’s inner force for Bai Yong, the black pillar before Luo Ling suddenly emitted a faint golden glow.

Instantly, everyone’s attention focused on Luo Ling.

"Did she succeed?" Ke Bei’s heart stirred with joy at the sight of the golden light.

"The 'Frost Armor' truly suits Luo Ling," he thought. Gaining this secret technique was a rare opportunity for her. Although Ke Bei didn’t know its exact power, it was surely formidable. The Sky Awakening Tower was a supreme artifact, and its secret techniques must be awe-inspiring!

ps: Thanks to Immortal Emperor & Monarch of the Realm, Shui Shui, Eye of Divine Judgment, Next Stop Waiting, Hao Tian of the Ascending Skies, Those Three, and Peng7 for their generous support. The author is deeply grateful... Are there any recommendation votes left? I want them, I want more...